The Week Before Hayle Sprint Triathlon

On Sunday I will do my 2nd ever triathlon.  It's a sprint tri, and some might say, 'it's not a proper distance'.  Well get over it.  I reckon that with a 750m open water swim, a bike and run course with hills that its a serious sprint tri.

Unlike last year I do not feel worried about the swim.  I now have a proper tri wetsuit and have been swimming in open water/Dorking pool enough to have gotten over a concern about 750m.  So I am hoping to better my swim time this year, the proof will be in the times.

Weather wise it sucks.  Right now its as windy as can be and raining as well.  Is it really the end of July?

The primary thought on my mind is not about this triathlon, it's more about the New Forest Middle Tri in Sept and the amount of training I'm not doing for this event, but even more than this is the constant thoughts about my left big toe. 

Everyone has an Achilles' heel (well maybe Chris Mac Cormack doesn't) and this is mine.  I have been ignoring it for 3 years, moaning about it but doing nothing about it.  But it's definitely worse now.  I'm not going to whinge on, but I will be going to the doctors and getting something done. The time has come.

hallux rigidus

The Boxhill Challenge

The Boxhill Challenge has been met by Ollie Curtis.  On his last day at school before the summer holidays, Ollie took on the challenge and successfully set the course record. Riding his new GT Avalanche 2.0 MTB, he cycled from the bottom of the zig zag road to the tea shop at the top.  The sweat dripped from the gelled up spikes in his hair and his face flushed at the effort in the heat, yet he pushed on and gave a final push to speed his way to the tea shop. 

At the tea shop, expecting a large ice cream, I had to confess to not having any money on me.  Ha ha, his reward disappeared, ha ha, what a wicked daddy I am!  He had to go another 1.3 miles home before getting a reward from the freezer at home.

It's all good training for him.  Hopefully we should do more of this during the summer so when the football season resumes he will be fit and fast.  Ohhhhh I feel a plan coming on!

No work, no excuses

Agents.  They string you along then drop you. So when I thought I was going to start a new contract last week, I was mistaken. On the upside though I have been out on the bike to clock up over 6 hours.  Wed was Sophies sports day.  What a great day and Sophie did really well in her races.  Sophie is an Irongirl.  Well done Sophie, her second places helped the team win.  Go Sophie, go Sophie, go Sophie

Thursday I did a ramp test to get a decent figure for my Anaerobic Threshold.  That was hard work, I did not expect it to be quite so painful, but it revealed my AT as 154 and my max as 160 on the bike.  So now I know if I keep my HR below 154 I can keep going through that 1/2 Ironman and make the finish.

Friday, Martin had come up with a great idea of going to Worthing for a swim.  At about 10:30 we inched our way into the water.  Colder than we expected, and what looked pretty flat, turned out warmer and rougher.  Swimming was tough going, well for me anyway, the lake is easier.  (watch out for those sea swims).

Saturday and Sunday were no training days.  Daniels party, (7 eleven year old boys in a cinema, when the couple in front start having some 'pash'), well you can imagine how the boys giggled and jumped about.  Sunday, after sending all the boys home, they slept over, we then had a BBQ all afternoon.

Roll on next week.

I support double yellow lines for the zigzag road

Last Saturday I had a great 40 mile ride, out down through Pixham, Punchbowl Lane and south through Newdigate until I was completely lost.  Nothing new there for the man who does not take a map with him.  On South I went until Crawley.  Here I turned North and headed back through Leigh, Betchworth, Brockham and back to Pixham and back along past Denbies and yes, up Boxhill again, and yes I got overtaken by 2 people, ... again .... I looked at the lead bike and it said Rocco Forte on the downtube.  Now my theory is that the chap pedalling was the real Rocco Forte.  I did an internet search and did not find a bike called the Rocco Forte, but who knows.  He was going well.  The second guy with him also left me standing, so I put my head down and huffed and puffed a bit more to catch him, (I did at the top of the hill).  Half way up the 2nd zigzag, head down, pumping the pedals, doing about 9mph (not bad for me), I hit a motorbike.  Well I glanced it.  Some chap on some old WW2 mudplugger of a bike was parked on the edge of the road.  Well I did not see him until the footpeg and my shin collided. 

Owwww, but still wanting to catch the guy in front I kept going.  So now I have a footpeg dent in my left shin.  For a moment I thought I would stop and give him a mouthful, but then I thought it was my own fault, I should have been looking where I was going.  So I didn't and he did not say anything to me either as he overtook me a minute later.  Note to me, 'keep looking up, dumbkopf'.  But then, you, well I, just don't expect someone to park half way up a hill.  Ummm dumbkopf, he was probably picking up roadkill.

So, finally not a bad week, training wise.  I feel good too, I feel like there is some strength in my legs.  Must keep it up.  Swimming has suffered a tad and I should go back to the lake sometime soon.

Sophies school sports day coming up this week, I'm on the bench so have time off to fit in some training. 

School Sports Day

It use to be that there was a dads race and all the dads could establish a pecking order for when they passed by dropping and picking up their kids from school.  Now that I have been running for a few years, 'I fancy my chances!', but they don't do it in Brockham middle school, probably because its a bigger school and maybe because of insurance! I'll just have to settle for the 3rd place Personal Best set a few years ago at Daniel's primary school.

Daniel did 'stormingly' well in his races.  2nd in the obstacle race and 2nd in the running race.  I'm convinced he could easily have come first if he had not been watching the others in the race and had focused on the finish line more.  Ohhhh now I'm sounding a little like a 'pushy daddy'.  Well done Daniel, 'You will be an Ironman'.

Sophies sportsday is scheduled for Wednesday, but Wednesday is a total washout.  I guess/hope it will be rescheduled.  'Come on Sophie'.

I have added my training plan for the New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon at the top of the sidebar

Blah blah blah ......

Another week, more swimming, more turbo training and a little bit of running.  Who would have thought that in July I would be on the turbo trainer in the garage? 

 Come Sunday I was going to go biking no matter what, drink, shoes, socks, shorts, new shirt, new jacket, helmet, stuff, gear, HRM, more stuff, more stuff in the pockets and I was ready.  'Ohhhh darling, could you get 2 packs of butter and a milk fro the shop?' 'but, but, but ..... I .... yes of course darling'.  Right, I'll cycle to the shop, get the butter and milk, come back and then go.  Great. Clip, clap, clip, clap around the shop. Have you tried walking in cycling shoes?  2 packs of Stork, big milk, in the rucksack, pay and back home.  'Darling, butter delivery'. 

'Noooooooooo, urghhhhhh, thats not butter, its margarine.' 'But its a block, its in a packet, it says great for making puff pastry, it has to be butter', 'no its margarine'.  'dohhhhhh', quick, back to the shop. 'sorry, blah blah, butter, blah blah, wife, blah cooking, blah no good, blah', got a refund, went to the other shop, 2 blocks of butter.  It's yellow, its a block, it says butter on the packet.  I can't believe this is not butter!  Pay, back home, 'darling, butter'.  Right I'm off, turn around and the heavens open.  Rain?  Rain, its bloody July, whats going on?  The bike on the turbo trainer thats whats going on.  Back in the garage, sweat, sweat, pedal pedal, grrrrrrr turbo trainer ..........